Improvement in windmills



J. M. ARMOUR.

Wind-Mill. Non-61318.. PatentedMarch 30,1875.

1' Y I l Q i L J OHN M. ARMOUR, OF NORTHWOOD, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN WINDMILLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 161,315, dated March30, 1875; application filed October 28, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN M. ARMOUR, of Northwood, in the county of Loganand State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Vindmills and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making part ofthis specification- Figure 1 being a side elevation of the essentialparts of a windmill provided with my improvements; Fig. 2, a side viewof a portion of the driving-shaft, with a pair of the improved vanesused in this machine shown in the position they assume under a heavypressure of wind; Fig. 3, a side View of a portion of the driving-shaftwith a pair of the vanes, and a device for regulating the amount ofpressure which the vanes will withstand before they will be forced fromtheir vertical and counter horizontal planes of action; Fig. 4, a viewof a portion of the driving-shaft with one of the vanes, and a deviceapplied thereto to allow both counter-vanes to be forced into one plane,edge to the wind, under the pressure of a violent wind; Fig. 5, a viewof a portion of the driving-shaft, with a pair of the vanes in theposition where one of the vanes is brought into action by the wind.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

The main feature of my invention consists in a device for employingwind-power to drive machinery, composed essentially of a verticaldriving-shaft provided with sets or pairs of counterbalancing-vanesattached to shafts extending through the driving-shaft horizontally, andjournaled therein, the several vaneshafts radiating regularly atdifferent angles all around from the periphery of the drivingshaft, andthe vanes at the opposite ends thereof being so constructed and arrangedthat they co-operate in adjusting themselves alternately to the wind,coming from whatever quarter, and also in adjusting themselves to thevarying force of the wind, all substantially as hereinafter specified.

In the drawings, A represents the vertical driving-shaft; B B B and B BB, the several pairs of vanes, and 0 0C their rocking shafts, journaledhorizontally in the driving-shaft. The vanes B B B represent the vanestaking the wind, and turning the driving-shaft thereby, and the vanes BB B represent the countervanes returning against the wind, and havin gtheir edges turned thereto.

The driving shaft A may be a single beam of timber, with horizontalbearings for the vane-shafts; or it may be preferably made of frame-work, to increase its diameter, and thereby furnish longer bearings forthe vaneshafts.

The rocking-shafts O O O of the vanes turn freely in their bearings; andthe vanes B B on each shaft are secured thereon at right augles to eachother, but both in line with the axis of the shaft, as shown. The vanesprojcct from one side of the shaft, mostly or entirely, so that thetendency of each vane is to turn or swing down into a vertical position,suspended under the shaft; but, since the two counter-vanes on eachshaft tend each to sink into its lowest position, they counterbalanceeach other, and when no wind is acting on them they assume positions atangles of fortyfive degrees from the vertical, as shown in Fig. 5. Eachshaft and pair of vanes assume this position when the wind leaves onevane and before it strikes against the counter-vane. Then, as soon asthe vane B turns round, so as to take the wind, the pressure of the windturns it into avertical position, or more or less nearly approximatingthereto, according to the force of the wind, the weight of thecounter-vane B acting against the windpressure. If the vane B assumes aprecisely vertical position, and the counter-vane B a horizontalposition, as seen in Fig. 1, the former presents the greatest surface tothe wind, and the latter the least, thus acting most effectively to turnthe driving-shaft. The action of the wind itself tends to keep the twovanes of each shaft in this position by assisting to keep thecounter-vane B horizontal; and this action of the wind on the vanes isirrespective of the direction or sudden changes of the wind, which onlyvary the position in the circle around the driving-shaft, where the Windleaves one vane and takes the opposite vane on the shaft. As the severalvane-shafts are arranged at regular intervals around the drivin g-shaft,one vane takes the Wind successively aft-er another, so that there is noirregularity of action, nor sudden jerking produced thereby.

The vanes B B on the several shafts C G G are of such weight and surfacethat they are adapted to a given average pressure of wind, a certainpressure being required to bring the active vane B into a verticalposition, and the counter or returning vane B into a horizontalposition. This standard or limit of pressure may be made as great or aslittle as desired, and may be varied at will.

Fig. 3 represents a device for thus regulating the limit of pressurewhich may be given to the vanes. It consists of a brake, D, pressingdown upon the shaft 0 of each pair of vanes, and provided with a weight,a, or a spring to produce the pressure of the required degree, thisweight or spring being increased or diminished in force by theattendant.

The brake D may be simply a friction-brake pressing upon a flattenedpart, b, of the vaneshaft when the vane B is in a vertical position, andupon another flattened part when the counter-vane B comes into averticalposition and becomes the active vane; or the brake may encounter aresisting stop on the shaft when either vane comes into a verticalposition, the friction-brake, however, being preferable. By this meansthe active vanes will not be forced from a vertical position till theresistance of the brake is overcome, and that resistance is variable andadjustable at pleasure.

The narrow edges of the vanes may be increased in width if desired, inorder to increase the pressure required to turn the vanes.

When the violence of the wind becomes excessive the vanes areself-regulating, and automatically counteract the excess of pressure, sothat neither is the machinery driven at too great speed, nor is theredanger of breaking the vanes or any part of the mill thereby.

The action of the vanes under excess of pressure is illustrated in Fig.2, which indicates the positions which the vanes assume at such times.The excess of pressure raises the counter-vane B somewhat above ahorizontal position, as shown, and the active vane B beyond its hangingvertical position until the diminished sur face of the latter presentedto the wind, and the resistance of the former produced by thecounter-pressure action of the wind, hold the vanes at precisecounter-balance, the resultant effect on the driving-shaft A remainingthe same, or nearly the same, as when the limit of normal pressure isreached. Hence there is no injurious increase of speed imparted to themachinery from the violence of the wind, and the vanes are driven intosuch positions that the least aggregate resistance is offered to thewind, as a safeguard against injury thereto or any part of the mill.

In Fig. 1, upon the vane-shaft marked 0 00, and in Fig. 4, is shown adevice for allowing the vanes B B to turn upon the shaft into one plane,edge to the wind, in certain cases when there is exposure to veryviolent winds or tornadoes, the turning of the vanes being regulated totake place at a certain pressure, beyond which it might not be safe toexpose them in working position. One or each of the vanes is pivotedupon the vane;shaft by means of bearings 0 (Z. In one bearing, cl, Fig.4, enters a latch or pin, f, the inner end of which enters a notch orcavity. g, in the vane-shaft. A spring, it, bears upon the outer end ofthe latch or pin, and the pressure of this spring is adjusted so thatwhen the limit of wind-pressure which is calculated to be safe isreached, the latch or pin will be forced from the notch, and the vanewill be turned around its shaft till it ceases to offer resistance tothe wind, and this position will be maintained till the storm is over,when the vanes can be readjusted in working position. Ordinarily thedevice will not be neces- 1 sary, sufficient strength being readilygiven to the mill to withstand the winds in ordinary situations.

lhe number of vanes B B may be as many as desired, there being nospecial limit to the length of the driving-shaft A.

I disclaim countervanes on opposite ends of rocking shafts forwindmills, when the movements of the vanes are limited within horizontaland vertical positions; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. Counter-vanes B B B B, secured to horizontal rocking shafts G 0,arranged in bearings of a vertical driving-shaft, A, the said vanesbeing arranged to have a free self-limiting movement beyond thehorizontal and vertical lines, respectively, and constructed to turnautomatically upon their shafts when a certain predetermined pressure ofwind thereon shall have been reached, substantially as herein specified.

2. Regulating-brakes D D, in combination with the vane-shafts O O,substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

3. Safety latches or pins ff, in combination with the vanes B B andshaft 0, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

Specification signed by me this 29th day of September, 1874.

J OHN M. ARMOUR.

Witnesses:

V. 0. ARMOUR, JERRY WELsH.

